Barnes v. Sea Hawaii Rafting, LLC, No. 16-15023 (9th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CaseThe Ninth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a seaman's claims in admiralty against a vessel in rem. The panel held that the district court erred by denying the seaman's maintenance requests in full, staying the action, and dismissing the vessel; the district court obtained jurisdiction over the vessel when the seaman filed a verified complaint and defendants appeared generally and litigated without contesting in rem jurisdiction; the district court did not lose in rem jurisdiction while the vessel remained in its constructive custody; the district court's control over the vessel, once obtained, was exclusive; and the automatic bankruptcy stay did not affect the seaman's lien against the vessel and the bankruptcy court had no authority to dispose of the lien through the application of bankruptcy law. The court explained that when, as in this case, a seaman establishes his entitlement to maintenance and provides some evidence of his actual living expenses, the burden shifts to the vessel's owner to produce evidence that the seaman's actual costs were unreasonable. The panel issued a writ of mandamus to the district court to award the seaman maintenance for his undisputed actual and reasonable expenses subject to a potential increase after trial.
Court Description: Maritime Law. The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of a seaman’s claims in admiralty against a vessel in rem, issued a writ of mandamus to the district court to award the seaman maintenance, denied a motion to dismiss the appeal as moot, and remanded the case to the district court. The seaman was injured when the vessel on which he was working exploded. He sued the vessel in rem, and he sued the company that owned the vessel and the company’s owner and manager in personam, seeking to enforce his seaman’s lien against the vessel. The panel held that it had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(3) to review the district court’s interlocutory order dismissing the seaman’s claims against the vessel because the order affected the seaman’s substantive rights. The panel concluded that it lacked jurisdiction to review the district court’s denial of summary judgment as to a maintenance
The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on April 19, 2018.
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